diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 78fe3e97ff993293c1d018431c8f5bf1e2531f16..7c9a87b02e7784259d751ed9a57ce02f4a7409a1 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -774,7 +774,11 @@ static int super_90_validate(mddev_t *mddev, mdk_rdev_t *rdev)
 	__u64 ev1 = md_event(sb);
 
 	rdev->raid_disk = -1;
-	rdev->flags = 0;
+	clear_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(WriteMostly, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(BarriersNotsupp, &rdev->flags);
+
 	if (mddev->raid_disks == 0) {
 		mddev->major_version = 0;
 		mddev->minor_version = sb->minor_version;
@@ -1154,7 +1158,11 @@ static int super_1_validate(mddev_t *mddev, mdk_rdev_t *rdev)
 	__u64 ev1 = le64_to_cpu(sb->events);
 
 	rdev->raid_disk = -1;
-	rdev->flags = 0;
+	clear_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(WriteMostly, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(BarriersNotsupp, &rdev->flags);
+
 	if (mddev->raid_disks == 0) {
 		mddev->major_version = 1;
 		mddev->patch_version = 0;
@@ -1402,7 +1410,7 @@ static int bind_rdev_to_array(mdk_rdev_t * rdev, mddev_t * mddev)
 		goto fail;
 	}
 	list_add(&rdev->same_set, &mddev->disks);
-	bd_claim_by_disk(rdev->bdev, rdev, mddev->gendisk);
+	bd_claim_by_disk(rdev->bdev, rdev->bdev->bd_holder, mddev->gendisk);
 	return 0;
 
  fail:
@@ -1442,7 +1450,7 @@ static void unbind_rdev_from_array(mdk_rdev_t * rdev)
  * otherwise reused by a RAID array (or any other kernel
  * subsystem), by bd_claiming the device.
  */
-static int lock_rdev(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, dev_t dev)
+static int lock_rdev(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, dev_t dev, int shared)
 {
 	int err = 0;
 	struct block_device *bdev;
@@ -1454,13 +1462,15 @@ static int lock_rdev(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, dev_t dev)
 			__bdevname(dev, b));
 		return PTR_ERR(bdev);
 	}
-	err = bd_claim(bdev, rdev);
+	err = bd_claim(bdev, shared ? (mdk_rdev_t *)lock_rdev : rdev);
 	if (err) {
 		printk(KERN_ERR "md: could not bd_claim %s.\n",
 			bdevname(bdev, b));
 		blkdev_put(bdev);
 		return err;
 	}
+	if (!shared)
+		set_bit(AllReserved, &rdev->flags);
 	rdev->bdev = bdev;
 	return err;
 }
@@ -1925,7 +1935,8 @@ slot_store(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 			return -ENOSPC;
 		rdev->raid_disk = slot;
 		/* assume it is working */
-		rdev->flags = 0;
+		clear_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags);
+		clear_bit(WriteMostly, &rdev->flags);
 		set_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
 	}
 	return len;
@@ -1950,6 +1961,10 @@ offset_store(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	if (rdev->mddev->pers)
 		return -EBUSY;
+	if (rdev->size && rdev->mddev->external)
+		/* Must set offset before size, so overlap checks
+		 * can be sane */
+		return -EBUSY;
 	rdev->data_offset = offset;
 	return len;
 }
@@ -1963,16 +1978,69 @@ rdev_size_show(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, char *page)
 	return sprintf(page, "%llu\n", (unsigned long long)rdev->size);
 }
 
+static int overlaps(sector_t s1, sector_t l1, sector_t s2, sector_t l2)
+{
+	/* check if two start/length pairs overlap */
+	if (s1+l1 <= s2)
+		return 0;
+	if (s2+l2 <= s1)
+		return 0;
+	return 1;
+}
+
 static ssize_t
 rdev_size_store(mdk_rdev_t *rdev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 {
 	char *e;
 	unsigned long long size = simple_strtoull(buf, &e, 10);
+	unsigned long long oldsize = rdev->size;
 	if (e==buf || (*e && *e != '\n'))
 		return -EINVAL;
 	if (rdev->mddev->pers)
 		return -EBUSY;
 	rdev->size = size;
+	if (size > oldsize && rdev->mddev->external) {
+		/* need to check that all other rdevs with the same ->bdev
+		 * do not overlap.  We need to unlock the mddev to avoid
+		 * a deadlock.  We have already changed rdev->size, and if
+		 * we have to change it back, we will have the lock again.
+		 */
+		mddev_t *mddev;
+		int overlap = 0;
+		struct list_head *tmp, *tmp2;
+
+		mddev_unlock(rdev->mddev);
+		ITERATE_MDDEV(mddev, tmp) {
+			mdk_rdev_t *rdev2;
+
+			mddev_lock(mddev);
+			ITERATE_RDEV(mddev, rdev2, tmp2)
+				if (test_bit(AllReserved, &rdev2->flags) ||
+				    (rdev->bdev == rdev2->bdev &&
+				     rdev != rdev2 &&
+				     overlaps(rdev->data_offset, rdev->size,
+					    rdev2->data_offset, rdev2->size))) {
+					overlap = 1;
+					break;
+				}
+			mddev_unlock(mddev);
+			if (overlap) {
+				mddev_put(mddev);
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		mddev_lock(rdev->mddev);
+		if (overlap) {
+			/* Someone else could have slipped in a size
+			 * change here, but doing so is just silly.
+			 * We put oldsize back because we *know* it is
+			 * safe, and trust userspace not to race with
+			 * itself
+			 */
+			rdev->size = oldsize;
+			return -EBUSY;
+		}
+	}
 	if (size < rdev->mddev->size || rdev->mddev->size == 0)
 		rdev->mddev->size = size;
 	return len;
@@ -2056,7 +2124,7 @@ static mdk_rdev_t *md_import_device(dev_t newdev, int super_format, int super_mi
 	if ((err = alloc_disk_sb(rdev)))
 		goto abort_free;
 
-	err = lock_rdev(rdev, newdev);
+	err = lock_rdev(rdev, newdev, super_format == -2);
 	if (err)
 		goto abort_free;
 
@@ -2609,7 +2677,9 @@ new_dev_store(mddev_t *mddev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 			if (err < 0)
 				goto out;
 		}
-	} else
+	} else if (mddev->external)
+		rdev = md_import_device(dev, -2, -1);
+	else
 		rdev = md_import_device(dev, -1, -1);
 
 	if (IS_ERR(rdev))
@@ -4019,8 +4089,6 @@ static int add_new_disk(mddev_t * mddev, mdu_disk_info_t *info)
 		else
 			rdev->raid_disk = -1;
 
-		rdev->flags = 0;
-
 		if (rdev->raid_disk < mddev->raid_disks)
 			if (info->state & (1<<MD_DISK_SYNC))
 				set_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
diff --git a/include/linux/raid/md_k.h b/include/linux/raid/md_k.h
index c77dca3221ed5891dcb6cae277b8470f487ab5a5..5b2102e40286dd40eb3f469774743778a1b301ac 100644
--- a/include/linux/raid/md_k.h
+++ b/include/linux/raid/md_k.h
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ struct mdk_rdev_s
 #define	In_sync		2		/* device is in_sync with rest of array */
 #define	WriteMostly	4		/* Avoid reading if at all possible */
 #define	BarriersNotsupp	5		/* BIO_RW_BARRIER is not supported */
+#define	AllReserved	6		/* If whole device is reserved for
+					 * one array */
 
 	int desc_nr;			/* descriptor index in the superblock */
 	int raid_disk;			/* role of device in array */